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Nightengale: Rockies great Todd Helton making quiet exit

We never paid much attention to Colorado Rockies first baseman Todd Helton. Sure, everyone knew about his impeccable reputation. He has always been known as a wonderful guy, terrific role model, exceptional ballplayer.

He's also, from a baseball standpoint, buried in the Mountain Time Zone, and ignored by everyone outside the 303 area code.

Shame on us.

If Helton played somewhere else, particularly for a team that's won more than 83 games just twice in franchise history, he would be a household name. There are the six consecutive 30-home run seasons, the five All-Star Games, the three Gold Glove awards, the NL batting title in 2000.

He had a marvelous career, playing his final home game Wednesday.But outside the sellout throng at Coors Field that gave him a classy sendoff, Helton's farewell is drawing less fanfare than Mariano Rivera's setup men.

There have been no rocking chairs or surfboards from opposing teams, or glorious tributes that came Rivera's way in every city he visited.

That's what happens when you don't bother announcing your retirement until the final month of the season, the news buried even locally on a Sunday morning when the Denver Broncos were playing the New York Giants in theManning Bowl.

Peyton Manning, who turned Helton from a starting quarterback to a baseball career when he showed up at the University of Tennessee, knew that was vintage Helton. He was among the 90 on Helton's guest list Wednesday, opting to stay in the shadows, forcing Helton in the limelight.

The Rockies painted his No. 17 in front of each dugout, mowed it into the outfield grass, and gave him a horse during a 10-minute ceremony.

"There's not a right way or a wrong way to do it," Helton told USA TODAY Sports. "I'm the one retiring, I get to decide when I get to say it. I never liked attention on me."

Sadly, one of the rare instances Helton made national headlines in his 17-year career was for his DWI arrest in February.

Helton refuses to run away from the incident, still angry at himself that it happened on a late-night run to the convenience store.

"You know what, that's part of my story," Helton said. "It happened. I've learned from it. We all have our flaws and sometimes you get to see them a little more than others."

He and Stan Musial are the only players to have a .315 or higher batting average, and produce at least 2,500 hits, 550 doubles, 350 homers.

Yet, it's as if hardly anyone noticed.

Blame it on the steroid era, where his 369 career home runs are easily lost amid the juiced bodies and inflated stats. He has failed to hit more than 20 homers since 2004 but has a career .414 on-base percentage, .539 slugging, 591 doubles and 1,405 RBI.

Blame it on two postseason appearances in his career.

And blame it on his demeanor, pulling a page out of Derek Jeter's media playbook, making sure never to utter a controversial word.

"I was so vanilla," he says. "I've done that on purpose. You can always say something you regret, so that's the reason I don't say much."

There were times Helton wanted to voice his frustration with management. He envied friends who were playing a month longer than himself. He was even willing to accept a trade in the winter of 2006 to the Boston Red Sox, only for late Rockies president Keli McGregor to nix it.

"It's not that I wanted to go anywhere," Helton says, "but my name was mentioned so many times that they wanted to trade me. So, at that point, I was willing to go. Everything works out for a reason, doesn't it?"

The Rockies went to the World Series in that 2007 season, winning 21 of 22 games to win their only National League pennant. They were swept in four games by the Red Sox.

"But just going to the World Series with the Rockies," Helton says, "was as special to us as it was for people in Boston winning the World Series."

Helton says he can't wait to live a normal life. Hunt elk. Attend the Masters. An African safari.